Saba News News and Information from Saba Island, Dutch Caribbean
On Budget Day (“Prinsjesdag”) – Tuesday, 16 September 2025, the government presented the Tax Plan 2026 Law Proposal to the House of Representatives. The proposal must still be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate before taking effect on 1 January 2026.
Below you will find the most important measures relevant to the Caribbean Netherlands. For the full set of documents, please see:
Belastingplanstukken – Rijksoverheid
1. Purchasing Power in the Caribbean Netherlands
The Cabinet proposes changes to the income tax and wage tax brackets for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba.
Objective: strengthen the purchasing power and social security of low and middle incomes.
Financing: partly offset by an increase in the second bracket.
Proposed changes (from 1 January 2026):
First bracket rate: decreases from 30.4% → 29.4%
Second bracket rate: increases from 35.4% → 38.4%
2. Air Traffic Tax – Differentiation by Distance (from 2027)
Currently, air traffic tax is a flat rate of €29.40 per passenger for all flights departing from Amsterdam.
The Cabinet proposes to introduce three distance-based rates as of 1 January 2027:
-
Short flights (within EU / up to ±2,000 km): €29.40
-
Medium-haul flights (2,000–5,500 km, e.g. Egypt, Turkey): €47.24
-
Long-haul flights (5,500+ km, e.g. Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa): €70.86
➡️ Rates will be indexed for inflation in 2027.
Impact on the Caribbean Netherlands:
Flights from Amsterdam to Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius remain classified as short flights. The tax for these routes therefore stays unchanged at €29.40 per passenger.
Key principle: The tax is based on the final destination of the passenger. For example, a trip Amsterdam–Istanbul–Indonesia counts as long-haul, and the highest rate applies.
RCN
